Switching from Plastic Sponges to Cellulose
This is the eighth change in my month-long pledge to give up plastics for Crunchy's Extreme Eco-Throwdown.I used to buy a three-pack of Scotch-Brites every month or so, before I "turned green". I haven't bought a new plastic sponge now in almost a year. The ones I have are ragged and worn and are, most likely, thoroughly laden with a thousand garden variety household bacterium. But they still work, so I'm keeping them - holes, inhabitants and all.
However, since I am working to find non-plastic alternatives this month, I got me some stylin' cellulose scrubbers to supplement my septic sponges.
I ordered a two-pack of the Twist Loofah Sponge from BuyGreen.com for $4.49 plus $8.00 shipping, because, of course, I can't find a natural cellulose sponge with a scrubber side anywhere in Richmond. I have two kids, a dog, a husband, and poor cooking skills. Trust me - I NEED a scrubber side.
Anyhow, I've been using the new sponges and they seem to work just fine. The sponge, as I mentioned is cellulose (which means it's made from trees) and the scrubber side is a loofah (made from a tropical dried fruit). The loofah part doesn't seem to hold up quite as well as its petro-counterpart, but then again, that's the idea, isn't it? That we're trying to move away from the infinite life span of plastics to a more natural, biodegradable product?
That being said, I hope these suckers last a long time. At over six bucks a pop, that's a lot of jingle and unless I can find these locally, I don't think I'll be buying them again. I do have my cheap-ass backup system on hand, though: Standard Cellulose Sponge + Elbow Grease + Fingernail Scraping + Occasional Stainless Steel Pot Scrubber = less than $3.00 at Kroger.
